Jan. 1, 2013
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President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio / Carolyn Kaster, AP

by David Jackson, USA TODAY

by David Jackson, USA TODAY

President Obama is taking heat from some supporters on the fiscal cliff deal.

One of the critics' biggest complaints: The agreement doesn't address the soon-to-be-topped debt ceiling, setting up yet another budget fight with Republicans over the next two months.

Some liberals also said Obama settled for too high a threshold for higher income taxes. The agreement ends the George W. Bush-era tax cuts only for individuals who make more than $400,000 a year, and couples who make more than $450,000.

It also ends the payroll tax holiday, so that tax went up 2% on Tuesday.

In urging Democrats to reject the agreement, Timothy Noah of The New Republic wrote: "Your president has sold you out â?¦ The White House means well, but it has bargained incompetently."

Noah and other critics said Obama would have had more leverage over Republicans if the nation had gone off the fiscal cliff Tuesday and been hit with the automatic tax hikes and budget cuts that came along with it. Now, said Noah, "the deal gives Republicans carte blanche to take America hostage all over again in a month or two over raising the debt limit."

All that said, the Senate easily approved the measure early Monday by a vote of 89-8. Only three Democratic senators voted against it.

The Republican-run House is expected to take up the measure on Tuesday.

In a statement issued after the Senate vote, Obama noted that "neither Democrats nor Republicans got everything they wanted," and that the agreement "is the right thing to do for our country."

Obama and aides also noted that the deal increases taxes on Americans making more than $400,000 a year, the first such tax hike in more than 20 years. They said the plan also sets a template for future debt reductions.

"We will continue to reduce the deficit through a combination of new spending cuts and new revenues from the wealthiest Americans," Obama said.

Of course, Republican congressional leaders are also taking some heat over the fiscal cliff agreement, their backers saying the party gave up too much. They noted that it includes tax increases, but no meaningful spending cuts.

"I am a Republican," tweeted Donald Trump. "But the Republicans may be the worst negotiators in history."

Trump also said: "Obama and the Democrats are laughing at the deal they just made...the Republicans got nothing!"